"No; give them the cold shoulder."
"They smiled, and looked roguish," persisted Scott. "Their faces are painted, too."
"All the Tartar women paint. Here is a mosque; we will go in, if you please. But you must scrape your feet, and use the mat vigorously. The Tartar gentlemen take off their overshoes before they enter, and in most Mohammedan countries they compel strangers to remove their shoes; but they are not so particular here."
The party complied with these directions, and a man admitted them. The interior of the mosque was very plain, with a gallery on one side. On the floor were dirty and ragged carpets for the faithful to kneel upon. There were no seats, and the only furniture was a stand some eight feet high, on which the Koran is read and expounded. This was one of the plainest and simplest mosques, and a few months later the students had an opportunity of seeing them in all their glory in Constantinople. The party now drove to Commonens's restaurant for dinner; after which they took another drive through the streets. Most of the students were again astonished, as they had been before, to find that a city in the eastern part of Russia is so much like one in America, though they did not cherish this view when they stood before such a quaint structure as the Cathedral Nicolski. Thanking Professor Beresford for his kindness, the party started for the steamer again, which was to leave at eight o'clock the next morning, and they had decided to sleep on board.
At an early hour they were awaked by the advent of a number of passengers coming into the cabin. Several of them were Tartars of the highest class, and Scott called them "Cream Tartars," for they were very richly dressed. The boat started, and the students in the cabin continued to gaze at their singular companions. They called for tea, and produced their own provisions, consisting of bread and caviar, upon which they made their breakfast. It would be considered rather shabby for first-class passengers in America to carry their own provisions, but it is all right on the Volga. At noon these Tartars attended to their devotions on the bridge without any regard to the bystanders. They spread a robe on the top of the paddle-box, and taking off their overshoes, knelt upon it. Then they put their hands behind their ears, and over their eyes, bowing their heads to the floor, and repeating their prayers.
In the afternoon the steamer passed a large boat going down the river, towed by a steamer. It had a cabin, extending nearly the whole length of it, with small, grated windows. The captain said this was a convict boat, in which prisoners were conveyed down the Volga, and up the Kama to Perm, from which they have to march to Siberia. When they reach their destination, they are compelled to work in the mines. The captain said that many of them returned, and made good citizens. At three o'clock on the afternoon of the next day, the Stafet arrived at Nijni Novgorod.
CHAPTER XV.
THE MOVEMENTS OF THE RUNAWAYS.